


Beneath the Castle

by Saltwater_Spacespeasant



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arthur Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Canon Era, Canon Rewrite, During Canon, Episode: s01e05 Lancelot, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, In which Kilgharrah is not a manipulative useless reptile, Just a warning but I think this may very quickly become angsty, Kilgharrah Ships Merlin/Arthur (Merlin), Kilgharrah being useful for once, Light Angst, M/M, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, merlin know's he's emrys pre-mordred in this cause he needs to for the plot, so yeah just don't question it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltwater_Spacespeasant/pseuds/Saltwater_Spacespeasant
Summary: Arthur often went to visit the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah, who his father had imprisoned deep in the vaults beneath Camelot at the peak of the Great Purge, when he needed advice or support. For times when peasants were starving or villages were being plundered by bandits and Uther blatantly lied about being unable to spare the resources to help. He asked the Dragon if there was a way to change his father’s mind or for a plan to sneak out of the Palace undetected to send help.-One night when Arthur sneaks into the Vaults to ask for Kilgharrah's advice about the newest Knight, he meets Merlin on his way back up.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 138





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this fic! I've just had writer's block and i thought of an idea so I typed frantically so I wouldn't forget it. I'll try to update in a few days

Arthur often went to visit the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah, who his father had imprisoned deep in the vaults beneath Camelot at the peak of the Great Purge, when he needed advice or support. For times when peasants were starving or villages were being plundered by bandits and Uther blatantly lied about being unable to spare the resources to help. He asked the Dragon if there was a way to change his father’s mind or for a plan to sneak out of the Palace undetected to send help.

* * *

He’d first learned of the Dragon’s existence in the caverns when he was fourteen. He had just recently joined the Knights’ ranks and heard some older soldiers whispering about a beast imprisoned in the vaults. So, naturally, as any rebellious teenager would do, he snuck into his father’s chambers during a court meeting and stole a spare key to the vaults that he knew was kept in the bedside cabinet (through other previous mischievous misdeeds) and weaved his way past the guards, with the assistance of a schedule given to him by Leon, a slightly older Knight who liked to act sensible, but was really just as cunning and sneaky as Arthur, and arrived undisturbed by any patrols to a vast underground cavern, in the centre of which was a giant, flat rock. He noticed that buried beneath what looked like the aftermath of a rockslide was a huge metal chain which trailed behind the boulder and into the darkness.

“Hello?” He called, to no response.

 _Great,_ he thought, _I went through all that effort to get down here and there’s nothing but an empty cave?_

Arthur barely had time to turn around before a tremendous _thud_ sounded in the cavern behind him. He whirled back towards the sound and came face-to-face with a colossal golden Dragon staring right at him.

His fight-or-flight instincts kicked in and he reached for his sword, but found nothing. _Oh. It’s with the Royal Blacksmiths,_ he realised. _Stupid of me to go looking for a monster without a weapon, huh?_

And then, it spoke.

“Arthur Pendragon. I’ve been wondering how long it would take for you would find me.”

Arthur just stood gaping for a moment before he remembered how to speak.

“You can talk!”

“Is that all you have to say, young Prince? ‘You can talk’? I expected more for someone of such a noble Destiny.”

“Destiny?” He parroted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“As a Great Dragon I have been privy to the visions of the greatest Prophets in the history of Albion. They say that the Once and Future King will unite the Land and rule over the greatest Kingdom the world will ever know. That is what you must become, young Pendragon.”

Arthur was silent for a few moments, then opened his mouth to speak.

“Okay, Dragon. Two things. One; you thrust all this knowledge on me and expect me to just be fine with it? And two; Prophecy is magic, and magic is evil. How can I trust anything you say to me?”

The Dragon did not hesitate to respond,

“Your father may have taught you that all things of magic are evil, but those are the words of a man blinded by grief. You will learn in time that magic is not good or bad. It is a force capable of helping or hurting, as is the sword of a Knight such as yourself. But you will need help if you are to fulfil your Destiny.”

“From who? You? Even if you have all this knowledge of Destiny and all that stuff, what else can you do?”

“It is not just I who seeks to help you, young Pendragon. The arrival of the one they call Emrys will set you on this path.”

“And who exactly is this Emrys?”

“That I cannot tell you. What I can be certain of, however, is that the Prophets say that Emrys is the most powerful Sorcerer ever to walk the Earth. They say that you and he are two sides of the same coin, and that only with Emrys by your side will you succeed.”

“All this is giving me a headache. I’m going to bed to try and process it.”

“Very well then, Arthur. Farewell for now, and good luck.”

And with those final words, the Dragon took off from its perch on the rock and disappeared into the blackness.

When Arthur returned to his chambers that night, he found himself staring at the walls, pondering all of his newfound knowledge. _Were the Dragon’s words true? Was magic a neutral force as he had said? And who was Emrys? If he really was the greatest Sorcerer ever, how could Arthur trust him? Was Emrys a name or a title? If it was a title, how would he even be able to tell who Emrys was? Surely he wouldn’t go flaunting his magic in a Kingdom where Sorcerers are executed?_

Needless to say, Arthur didn’t get much sleep that night.


	2. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur goes into the caverns for Kilgharrah's advice about the magical creature approaching the citadel. On his way up, he meets Merlin on his way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Updating a fic? It's more likely than you think. anyway this kinda turns slightly angsty at the end but it will not shatter your soul, don't worry

Arthur descended the steps into the vast cavern as quickly as he could without making noise. He couldn’t afford to waste any time if he had any chance of defeating the Gryphon.

“Kilgharrah! I need your help!” he called into the darkness.

There was silence for a moment, before, with a _thud,_ Kilgharrah landed atop his stone perch.

“Ah, young Prince. What have you come to ask of me?”

“There have been sightings of a creature in the villages North of Camelot. A Gryphon, Gaius called it. It’s been attacking towns and has taken no livestock, only people. Our weapons have no effect on it and it is predicted that it will arrive at the Citadel before morning.”

“I see. A Gryphon is a creature born of magic, and thus can only be destroyed by magic.”

“Yes but the thing is, we have, well, we had, a new Knight. He was the only one who has faced the Gryphon in combat. But his Seal of Nobility was forged and my father banished him for it. He has to leave before dawn. It was Merlin who introduced him to me, but from the way he reacted when I asked about his nobility, I don’t think he was aware of the First Code of Camelot until just before his first training session.”

“I see. May I inquire where are you going with this?”

“Geoffrey of Monmouth said that the forgery was of the highest standard. No cartographer could make something that flawless in such a short period of time, so he must have used magic. He could have been our only shot at killing the beast.”

Kilgharrah thought for a moment about what he said before replying,

“If this is what you believe, then you must seek him out before he’s gone for good. He is staying with Merlin, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then go to him while you still can and ask him to ride out with you.”

“I will. Thank you for your help, Kilgharrah.”

“My pleasure, young Prince. Now go.”

Arthur nodded and watched Kilgharrah disappear back into the darkness, before turning and heading back up the steps.

* * *

He was about halfway up the stairwell when he heard faint, frustrated and unintelligible muttering near the top. He looked up to see Merlin struggling to light a torch with a flint.

 _Strange,_ Arthur thought, _why would Merlin be visiting the Dragon?_

Merlin then gave up in his attempts to light the torch. Arthur was expecting him to turn back around and sneak out of the dungeons from whatever way he got in, but instead he looked around him, and said,

“Ah what the hell, nobody’s here to see me.” Before raising a hand to hover over the head of the torch, and whispering, “ _forbearnan_.”

The torch lit of its own accord.

There was no mistaking what Arthur had seen, it was definitely magic. Although Merlin had been facing away from him and he would be therefore unable to see his eyes, he knew the tell-tale golden glow would’ve been there.

A sudden realisation hit Arthur. If Merlin had magic and was also visiting Kilgharrah for advice, could he be Emrys? It didn’t seem likely, but then again, he’d managed to keep his magic secret (until now, that is) so Arthur didn’t think it’d surprise him very much if he’d been hiding this too.

Had he never met Kilgharrah and been told that magic was not as evil has he’d thought, Arthur would likely have run him through on the spot. But then again, Arthur wouldn’t be down there at all if he hadn’t.

He decided the better course of action would be to talk to him.

“Merlin.” He said, and Merlin turned whirled around to face him, his eyes wide.

“Arthur! I can explain, it was-“

“Merlin, stop.” Arthur said, stepping forward. This did not have the desired effect, however, only seeming to scare Merlin more, as without a word he turned and ran.

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's the next chapter! I hope you liked it, please let me know what you think in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 1am so sorry if it's bad lol. Comments are always appreciated!


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